Collin Klein, his mysterious injury status moot by kickoff, came and he played as he always does—with toughness, discipline and a determination to carry these Wildcats to the promised land.

As much as any team out there, Kansas State played as if it is forcing pollsters to put this team up top; daring them not to, even. Oregon is being just as bullish.

The Ducks toyed with Cal before crushing it, 59-17. Notre Dame, meanwhile, played an uncomfortably close game against Boston College, winning 21-6.

Now the question is which unbeaten team is best positioned to take advantage of Alabama’s fall at the hands of Texas A&M?

It may have been K-State. Klein is unstoppable, passing for 145 yards and rushing for another 50.

The Wildcats scored 23 points before TCU scored any, with the Horned Frogs’ field goal and touchdown coming in the final 7:41 of the game.

TCU moved the ball but not much more. It delivered hard hits, but didn’t really slow Bill Snyder’s bunch. It gave its best blow and Kansas State remained sturdy in victory.

Still, Kansas State must face a relentless offensive machine in Baylor, and has the regular-season finale against Texas on Dec. 1.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, led 7-0 after one quarter against lowly Boston College; 14-3 after two. The Irish eventually finished the deal, but if you tuned out after halftime, would you be convinced ND is the best team in the nation?

"If people don't like us winning, I don't know what to tell you,” he said.

Then there’s Oregon.

The Ducks lost starting safety Avery Patterson to a knee injury. Running back Kenjon Barner left the game briefly with a hand or wrist injury. Quarterback Marcus Mariota trotted off the field favoring his left shoulder.

It was scary stuff. Barner and Mariota returned to the game, but like any other team, Oregon is subject to setbacks, too.

The biggest would have been a loss to Cal, which stayed in step with the Ducks better than any team has all year for one half. The Bears eventually faded as Oregon made the BCS poll decision tougher.

Pollsters will divvy style points, but which of the three will get the most?

BADGERS CLINCH LEADERS

Wisconsin has faced its share of trials this season. Things took another turn when starting quarterback Joel Stave was lost for the year with a broken collarbone sustained Oct. 27 in a loss to Michigan State.

A quarterback battle between transfer Danny O’Brien and oft-injured fifth-year senior Curt Phillips ensued last week. Phillips got the nod heading into Saturday’s game against Indiana and it was as much an emotional lift as anything else for the Badgers.

Three times Phillips has sustained major injuries to his right knee. But on this day, the knee was fine and so, for one of the few times this season, was Wisconsin, which clubbed the Hoosiers, 62-14.

The Badgers clinched a spot in the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis as winners of the Leaders Division. Wisky’s final two opponents—Ohio State next week and Penn State on Nov. 24—are both ineligible for the postseason.

Now, Wisconsin can begin training its eye on a third-consecutive trip to the Rose Bowl. The season that seemed so woeful at the start—a struggle in the opener against Northern Iowa, a loss on the road vs. Oregon State, a fight with Utah State—may finally be coming into shape.

Narrow losses at Nebraska and against the Spartans may have done more to help Wisconsin down the stretch than hurt it. On Saturday, starting left tackle Ricky Wagner was back from injury.

And Montee Ball, who lost his first career fumble and sustained a concussion against UTEP earlier this season, was back to the form that earned him a spot on the front row of last year’s Heisman Trophy ceremonies.

Ball scored the first of his three touchdowns early in the first quarter. He passed former Texas great Ricky Williams to move into second place on the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision career touchdown list with 76. Travis Prentice of Miami (Ohio) holds the record with 78 TDs.

LOUISVILLE CRASHES

So much for perfection.

Louisville blew that with a 45-26 loss to unranked Syracuse in the Carrier Dome Saturday.

The Cardinals were holding hopes of an unbeaten regular-season record that would launch them into the Orange Bowl as Big East champions. Now, things are stickier.

Louisville has a head-to-head victory over Cincinnati, which easily defeated Temple Saturday. But Rutgers remains undefeated in league play, with its only loss of the season coming to Kent State. Rutgers pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Army, 28-7.

Louisville has Connecticut remaining, then is at Rutgers on Nov. 29.

A win over Syracuse would have made the picture clearer. But the Cardinals’ suspect defense finally caught up with them and made waste of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s 426 passing yards and three touchdowns.

DOOLEY DONE?

Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said a few weeks ago that he’d take phone calls from interested coaches. At Kentucky, Joker Phillips has already been relieved of his duties, effective at the end of the season. A report surfaced this week that Auburn’s president is gathering members of the Board of Trustees to discuss Gene Chizik’s future.

Meanwhile, Tennessee got 404 passing yards and four touchdowns from quarterback Tyler Bray, but still lost 51-48 to Missouri in four overtimes. The Volunteers remain winless in the SEC this season.

It seems only a matter of time before four SEC coaches will be packing their bags, and Derek Dooley is certain to be among them. If he isn’t, it’s hard to fathom what series of events or circumstances would save Dooley’s job.

According to a report last month in The Knoxville News-Sentinel, to fire Dooley and his assistants, the university would have to shell out a buyout of “at least $5.6 million, and perhaps as much as $9.3 million, over the next four years…”

Dooley would be entitled to $5 million through 2016.

So, it may be too expensive to let him go.

But for Volunteers’ fans, keeping him may be even more costly for the program.

GEORGIA WINS SEC EAST

When Georgia was smoked by South Carolina, it seemed the Bulldogs’ aspirations went up in flames, too.

But while everyone discounted Georgia, the pieces continued to fall into place for the team. Now, after a 38-0 shellacking of Auburn, Georgia finds itself back in the SEC championship game as winners of the East division.

Georgia is 9-1 and finishes the year up against Georgia Southern and in-state rival, Georgia Tech.

Despite Alabama’s loss to Texas A&M, it’s still likely Georgia will face the Tide in the conference title game. Georgia doesn’t have a Johnny Manziel on its side of the field, but it does have a solid defense, good running game and momentum.

That means anything can happen.

Aaron Murray passed for 208 yards and three touchdowns, while freshmen tailbacks Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall combined to rush for 221 yards and two TDs.

ROYAL HONORED

Texas ran the wishbone for Darrell Royal on the first play vs. Iowa State, a nod to the former Longhorns coach who died this week. Royal found considerable success running that offense, winning two national championships, so the gesture was more than appropriate. But not even the Cyclones saw what was coming next.

The Longhorns had announced their wishbone plan after Royal's death earlier this week, so you'd think that the Longhorns would hand it off, kick up 3 yards and a cloud of dust, and point to the sky. Instead, what we got was a cool—and successful—trick play.

Starting their opening drive at their own 6-yard line, the Longhorns handed the ball off to Jaxon Shipley, who ran right, but then passed the ball back to QB David Ash in the end zone, where Ash delivered a 42-yard strike to tight end Greg Daniels.

Well, Royal was fond of saying that three things can happen when you pass, and two of them were bad. But when that one thing works out, you get goosebumps. And you honor a legend at the same time.

GAME BALLS

— Arizona RB Ka’Deem Carey ran for a Pac-12 record 366 yards and tied the league record with five touchdowns in a 56-31 win over Colorado.

— Texas Tech QB Seth Doege recorded 476 passing yards and three TDs in a double-overtime, 41-34 win over Kansas.